Tag: Secular

Prince William and Kate Middleton will be married this week in Westminster Abbey. Studies show that the United Kingdom is among the most secular nations in the world, with only one in 10 people attending religious services weekly, yet the great events in British life—coronations, weddings and funerals—are all held in a church. Why is it that even in the most secular societies, people turn to places of worship for their rituals?

In an essay written in 1890, Ingersoll discusses the purposeful absence of God in the Constitution.

HERE’s a fact to flatter the unbelievers among you: the bright young things at the University of Oxford are among the most godless groups ever studied in the UK. Of 728 students surveyed in 2007, 48.9 per cent claimed not to believe in any god, with 49.6 per cent claiming no religious affiliation. And while a very small number of Britons typically label themselves as “atheist” or “agnostic” (most surveys put it at about 5 per cent), an astonishing 57.3 per cent of the Oxford sample did.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the use of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy. It said the practice violated the right of parents to educate their children as they saw fit, and ran counter to the child’s right to freedom of religion.

A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the “biggest prize ever” — the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world’s major religions. The show, called Penitents Compete, features a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk attempting to persuade 10 atheists of the merits of their religions. Atheists who convert win a trip to a holy location, depending which religion they pick.

The government takes on a “walking prison”
When the French government decided in 2004 to ban the Muslim headscarf in state schools and other public buildings, it set off a heated debate over religious expression and women’s rights in a secular state. Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, “a sign of subjugation;of debasement that is not welcome on French territory.”
Mr Sarkozy’s comments came after a group of deputies, led by Andre Gerin, a Communist, had called for a parliamentary inquiry into the wearing of the burqa, with a view to a possible ban. This would mean in all public places, since it is already banned in state institutions under the 2004 law. The deputies called burqas “veritable walking prisons.”